One person's woodworking journey, with a focus on handtools, a nod to the past, and an appreciation for the creative spirit.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Perfectly Square Pegs By Hand

This idea for making square pegs popped into my head when cutting grooves for a drawer bottom.

I had used my plow plane, so there were square-shaped holes in the back of the drawer that needed to be plugged.

That's when I spied an offcut from a drawer side. The thin piece of wood beneath the groove was essentially half the shape I needed.

So I grabbed my plow plane**, dialed in a 1/4" width and depth, plowed an edge of a scrap piece of wood, laid the board on its side, and plowed a groove on the face.

Well, I'll be darned. It worked like a charm. I had a perfectly square 1/4" peg.

This method does require a plow plane, but based on the idea, you might find another tool that will work equally as well.

And as you approach the 1/4" depth on the second groove, the peg will want to tip down because it's no longer supported beneath the cut.* Keep your hand tight against the plow plane's fence to ensure that the peg stays in position.

The peg will snap off when you're very close to the bottom of the second groove, and you may have a tiny sliver of wood that can be removed with a chisel, but this is the easiest way I've found to make perfectly square pegs by hand.

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*If you need to make a bunch of pegs on a regular basis, you could make brass spacers that fit into the first groove which will then support the second cut. You can use the same spacers to set up your plow plane.

**For those who are interested, I have a Lee Valley Veritas plow plane. I do not benefit in any way from the sale of their tools.

Hey now, I don't want anyone's wife being mad at me! But yeah, you need a plow plane. ; )

Brian, I thought about that, too. In fact, if you needed to make a bunch of pegs on a regular basis and at regular sizes, you could make a brass spacer that you could also use to set up your plow plane. I'm definitely going to use this with future projects.

Mark, this plow plane has come in handy on more than one occasion. I just ordered the 3/4" blade and conversion piece so it will work as a rabbeting plane. Thank you for posting your idea about using a router plane.

Chris, I guess you have to wait until next week, then. ; )

Ron, there's an idea. I've never used a slitting gauge (nor seen one in the wild) but it's certainly worth a try if you have one. Let me know if you try it and if it works.

I just get somewhat tickled when I see Lee Valley being mentioned anywhere outside of Canada. Silly of me, I know. I'm Canadian, eh.I was even slightly amazed to see some of their "Veritas" line in Las Vegas way back in 1991.Others gamble. I shop for tools. Probably just as expensive a pursuit though.

Now here's the real trick. Use your plow to create the groove, say 1/4. Then make the 1/4 square in another species. Now you have a perfectly sized inlay for things like picture frames or table edges. If you're really wacky you could repeat the proces with a 1/8 and get an inlay in an inlay.

I have used this technique myself, not to make square dowels, but just as a labour saving method to produce large rebates. I suppose the square peg that is left is a bonus that hadn't occured to me!!!Love the blog. Thank you for taking the time to write it. Kind regards, Richard.